Legend of the Mountain

Legend of the Mountain
Legend of the Mountain
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	山中傳奇
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	shān zhōng chuán qí
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	saan1 zung1 cyun4 kei4
Directed by	King Hu
Written by	King Hu; Ling Chung;
Produced by	Wong Cheuk-Hon; King Hu;
Starring	Shih Chun; Hsu Feng; Sylvia Chang; Tung Lin; Rainbow Hsu;
Cinematography	Henry Chan
Edited by	King Hu; Siu Nam;
Music by	Wu Ta-chiang
Production; company	Prosperity Film Company
Distributed by	Winson Entertainment
Release date	1979;
Countries	Taiwan; Hong Kong
Language	Standard Chinese
Box office	HK$734,936

Legend of the Mountain (traditional Chinese: 山中傳奇; simplified Chinese: 山中传奇; Wade–Giles: Shan-chung ch'uan-ch'i) is a 1979 Taiwanese-Hong Kong film directed by King Hu.

Plot

Ho, a young scholar, is given the task for translating Buddhist sutras which are said to have power over the creatures of the afterlife. He travels to a monastery to find a peaceful place to fulfill the task. However he encounters a bizarre cast of characters: a Buddhist lama, Secretary Tsui and his menacing friend Cheng, the mysterious Melody and her flute, and Ms. Chang, Melody's mother who soon arranges a marriage between Melody and Ho. However, as he works on the sutras, Ho slowly finds himself entangled on a mysterious plot involving witchcraft, demons, and a battle to preserve his own soul from the attacks of the supernatural underworld.

Cast

Shih Chun as Ho
Hsu Feng as Melody
Sylvia Chang as Cloud
Tung Lam as Mr. Tsui
Tien Feng as Cheng
Chen Hui-lou as Reverend
Rainbow Hsu as Ms. Chang
Wu Jiaxiang as Man carrying wood
Ng Ming Tsui as Lama
Sun Yueh

Release

Legend of the Mountain was released in 1979.^[4] The film was also shown at the 1979 Festival of Festivals in Toronto.^[4]

Reception

From contemporary English reviews, Richard Labonte of the Ottawa Citizen described the film as an "intellectual challenge" and as "three hours of film which never drags" and that it was "structured with a rigid formalism which allows for no spontaneity at all and is also a unique treat, for those who can adapt to a slow and mannered Eastern style rather than the fast-paced and action-packed style of most Western films."^[4]

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively gave the film an approval rating of 100% based on 7 reviews from western critics, and an average rating of 8.3/10.^[5]

References

^ "[back cover]". Legend of the Mountain (Booklet). Eureka!. 2019. 185.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Legend of the Mountain (1979)". Hong Kong Movie Database. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Legend of the Mountain". Legend of the Mountain (Booklet). Eureka!. 2019. p. 2. 185.
^ ^a ^b ^c Labonte, Richard (15 September 1979). "More film festival winners". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 44.
^ "Legend of the Mountain (1979)". Rotten Tomatoes (Fandango Media). Retrieved 26 March 2018.